DOUG-DENNIS AND THE FLYAWAY FIB

Sheep Doug-Dennis and elephant Ben-Bobby are great friends, the type of buddies who go to the circus when bored. But when Doug-Dennis eats all of Ben-Bobby’s popcorn before the circus even starts, he decides to lie about it. The fib carries Doug-Dennis far away, into the heavens, as far as the truth will stretch. The story is told mostly through speech bubbles with amusing pen-and-ink cartoon drawings that move the familiar theme to a story of hilarious and exaggerated lengths. The image of the putty-limbed Doug-Dennis floating in outer space, attached only to his growing, speech-bubbled lie, among other lies and liars (“Who went pee? Where?” exclaims one innocent-looking little pup), will resonate with both young readers and the adults who read to them. This is no simple didactic treatise on the evils of lying; newcomer Farrell gives sound advice about getting out of a fib. Young readers and listeners will laugh with recognition at Doug-Dennis’s familiar plight and, after a few readings, will be reading it themselves. A promising first book; here’s hoping his second is just as funny. (Picture book. 4-8)